Fergie: New And Exciting Experience

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is excited by the prospect of facing Roma in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

'We've never played Roma before so it'll be a new and exciting experience,' he told manutd.com. 'That's the great thing about Europe, you play teams you've never played before.

'We respect their last result. They have some great players like De Rossi and Mancini.'

That last result was a pretty surprising one: they beat Lyon 2-0 in France though everyone expected Houllier's side to win after the 0-0 draw in Rome. That just about sums up why we should be extremely cautious.

'Obviously it's pointless looking beyond this game. We must concentrate on this game only. We're really looking forward to it,' added Fergie.

Chief executive David Gill did not hide his delight following the draw because he got his wish: United avoided the other English teams, Chelsea and Liverpool.

'Yes, I'm relieved,' Gill told Sky Sports. 'I think playing in Europe is about playing other European teams. I haven`t discussed it with Alex (Ferguson) but I think that`s right.

'Chelsea and Liverpool could meet in the semi and it could be an all English final. Who knows?

'If we`re honest with ourselves we`ve underachieved in the past few seasons in Europe, so quite rightly, a club of our stature and with what we`ve achieved, should be right in there in the latter stages.

'We`re delighted to be there, Sir Alex, the players and the fans and it should be a great occasion.'